Fear: A Cultural History by Joanna Bourke

Started: 10/10/06
Finished: 10/14/06
Year: 2006
Genre: History/Psychology
Grade: A
Reason for reading: interest-TBR pile
Blurb (from book cover): "Fear. The word itself conjures the appropriate response. With a dark cacophony of associated words-fright, dread, horror, panic, alarm, anxiety, terror-fear is universally understood as one of the most basic and powerful human emotions, obtaining a nearly palpable and overwhelming substance in today's world.
"In this remarkable, groundbreaking book, acclaimed historian Joanna Bourke covers the landscape of fear over the past two hundred years: from the nineteenth-century dread of being buried alive-a subject dear to the heart of Edgar Allen Poe-to the current worry over being able to die when one chooses; from the diagnoses of phobias and anxieties produced by psychotherapists and livingly catalogued, to the role of popular culture and media in inciting panic and dread; from the horrors of the nuclear age to the cold fear of twenty-first-century terrorism. Fear tells the compelling story of anguish in modern times.
"A blend of social and cultural history with psychology, philosophy, and popular science, this astonishing book-exhaustively researched and beautifully written-offers strikingly original insights into the mind and worldview of the 'long twentieth century' from one of the brilliant scholars of our times."
Opinion: By far, one of the best books I've read this year. It's very obvious that Ms. Bourke did extensive research to complete this well written piece of work. If you have any sort of interest is history or psychology, this is a must get.